hola mi familia!
okay first of all, how crazy was last tuesday? i think i should get a prize for worlds fastest packing sister missionary. i did forget alot of things, but i will be able to live without some of them. can you believe its already been a week? i feel like ive been here for only a few dias. also, i apologize for the typing.The space bar is broken and the keyboard is different. Also, my ingles is TERRIBLE! Its hard to switch from writing in spanish all day to then typing nothing but ingles.
there is absolutely nothing better than being a missionary. en serio. its the very best!! its also SO dificil! some days you just get so discouraged and ask yourself what the heck youre doing out here. but then Espiritu Santo testifies to you your purpose and you feel so much better! Guatemala is muy bonita! Serio, I dont even miss utah becuase it is so gorgeous here. its also FREEZING in the mornings. Totally was not expecting that. I stepped off the plane and froze the whole way to the CCM (say-say-em-aye). So the plane ride was awesome, i made such good friends with two of the elders and now we are in the same district. its so fun. we got on the bus to come and we had to sit 3 to a seat and being the only hermana out of 20 elders, i had no choice but to sit with the elders. it was very squishy and i never want to be so close to an elder again! the driving here es muy mal! serio. its so bad. the lines mean nothing and they think of the speed limit as a suggestion. so grateful i dont have to drive!
I do remember the walkers, Elder Tims, Melissas brother es en mi districto. he is very nice and very funny. the thing about there only being two hnas in a district you have to reach into your inner 12 year old boy and laugh about fart and constipation jokes all day. es wonderful....not really, but we lovethem any ways.
Dad, do you remember who Gary Ellis is? His son is oneof the elders i became friends with and is in my district, his dad served in hong kong the same time you did.
and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUBBA!!! I went to the market today and found something for you, pero i cant send it to you for seis semanas. But i will try and get it to you as soon as i can!
any ways i sat by this guatemalan and his daughter on the plane from LAX to GUA. they were so nice and told me all about guatemala. the temple is right across from the CCM and both are in my mission boundaries, so i am already here! There are 7 norte (americans) hermanas in el CCM. thats it. Hna. Jepson (my comp from vegas) and I are the only hermanas in our district and there is only 5 of us in our rama (branch). Hna. Jepson and i are the only hnas who dont speak very good espanol and so thats kind of lonely sometimes, especially at meals when everyone is rambling off in spanish. but its all good! the latinas are very patient with us and the two we room with are so sweet! we have been getting better at communicating and the past few nights, we just laugh the whole hour we get ready for bed. its the best! one of them told me i look like taylor swift and sound like her when i sing...i laughed so hard! i am also the tallest girl in the CCM, out of every sister that is here, the missionaries, the teachers and the workers. its just great. and i thought i was tall en estadios unidos, pero im a freaking giant down here. its pretty cool. i get lots of strange looks.
last night it rained. it rains every day. i will pour for an hour and then stop for three and then rain for 30 minutes and stop. it smells devine. serio. its the best! the food is also muy bueno. i like it better than americano food for the most part. mi poor companera has been so sick becuase of the comida...her tummy does not like it very much. the elders are also having some issues. i havebeen blessed to not be sick. i havent even cried since i went through security. this seriously is the best thing in the world! we are already teaching an investigador and the lessons are very hard to do porque mi espanol es muy mal, pero el espiritu santo es the real teacher. its still hard to teach. and its so frustrating porque we already love this investigador and we want her to be happy and thereis this huge language barrier! one night our lesson completely bombed. hna. jepson and i were so upset with ourselves. it was the worst day ive had here. you get back to the clase and sit there and ask yourself why youre even here, the péople cant understand you and you arent helping them and you just get so down on yourself. but then hna. jepson needed to go to thebathroom and so of course i had to go with her and i was standing there and i caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and guess what? i looked like a missionary!! and my whole heart just filled with warmth. I saw my nametag and Jesuchrito underneath it and knew that this is where i am supposed to be. i LOVE my nametag. taking it off is the hardest thing for me, ive even fallen asleep with it still on my shirt. i never want to take it off!
i however, do not love cold showers, but i am learning to enjoy them...i think ive had 2 warmish showers and the rest ice cold. BE GRATEFUL for warm showers.
we went to the temple today and that was so amazing. i've never felt so much peace in the temple before. its very small, but so beautiful and i just love the people! i also saw my very first real nun today. who knew they actually exsited...i didnt, i just thought they were on movies.
umm....so some bad news....i was playing basketball during deportes, and i went up for a shot and came down and landed wrong hurt my knee pretty bad. its very swollen and hurts really bad. so if you could keep that in your prayers id really appreciate it. thank heavens for KT tape thought! mom youll probably have to send me more.
the gift of tounges isreal! last night hna jepson and i were preparing for our lesson and we werent very excited for it. our investigador is very stubborn, doesnt keep her commitments, looks bored out of her mind when we teach and its so hard to love her all the time. but we prepared a very short lesson and prayed before hand that wed be able to love her and that the spirit would be with us. holy smokes. best.lesson.ever. we just sat there and words kept coming and theyd pop into my head when i needed them, espeically while i was bearing my testimony. it was amazing and the spirit was so strong and she actually paid attention and participated! miracle! hna. jepson y yo left ella casa and looked at each other and said, Where did those words come from??. it was such a testimony builder!
okay, well i am almost out of time. but just know i love you guys so much and pray for you every day! (I say 20 prays a day, minimum) mom, youll have to go through and make this email understandable with puncutation and proabaly fix some words. you know spanish right? i have no idea where any of the punctuation on this keyboard is pero es okay!
i know this church is true and being a missionary is the best thing in the world! i love you!
con mucho amor,
hermana tuddenham
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